Sunday, December 4, 2011

Training:After
coming off a great (1:30) half marathon in October I thought I would primed to
crush my marathon PR. But the training since then was filled with injury and
burnout. In the 8 weeks before the race I got in 4 speed workouts 2 were cut
short because of calf pain. A week or two before the race the calf pain died
down but left behind was a more serious Achilles Pain. I didn’t know if it was
injured or just sore from my tight calf muscles pulling on it the last 4 weeks.
I didn’t tell anyone about this new injury. I didn’t want any of my friends or
family to worry about me during the race. Deep down I was worried… real worried.

Leading up to the race: Because of the injury I felt extra
nervous during the taper, it was as bad as my first marathon. When I am really
nervous for some reason my quads start getting sore (phantom pains?). Everyday
leading up to the race my quads felt a little worse than the day before. I was
mostly conserved with my Achilles and I almost switched to the half marathon at
the Expo the day before the race. The anxiety of running a night race is awful
because you can’t do anything but think about the race every second for hours
before the race starts. I decided at the last minute that I would go aim for
3:40 far from my original goal of 3:20ish.

0 – 13.1 miles (8:34
pace, Avg HR 156): It was surprisingly cold in Las Vegas, at the start it
was in the high 40’s with some really cold gusts of wind every now and then. The
marathon had about 4,000 runners and my first mile was pretty slow but after
that I was able to settle into an 8:30 pace. I think I got about 3 miles before
my calf/Achilles started hurting. I was concerned but this is how my lower leg
has felt for the last month so I pushed through. The first half of the marathon
was extremely boring, we ran a bunch of loops trough an area that was mostly
industrial. I finished the first half in 1:52, exactly where I wanted to be and
felling pretty good. I was planning on hitting the gas and running a faster 2nd
half with the help of the huge crowds and awesome scenery. I was pumped!

13.1 – 20 (9:02 pace, Avg HR 160) The marathon joined the
half marathon course at 13.1 miles and ran the last 13.1 on the strip. But the
half had started 20 min before I arrived and I hit a wall of people (terrible
race planning) 33,000+ runners in the half marathon. The half marathoners I
first encountered were running about 10:00-10:30 min pace. I was pretty
frustrated and the rest of the race I spent zig zaging through runners. I don’t
know how I did it but I kept a positive attitude and just kept plugging along. I
saw a couple of marathoners that completely lost it and were pushing people out
of their way. Maybe I was just happy that my calf had held up so far. The
spectators were awesome, I have never seen so many people watching and cheering
on the race.

20-26.2 (9:34 pace, Avg HR 167) Around mile 20
the road started to open up a little (except at aid stations) and I was able to
run faster. Only I couldn’t because my quads had secretly turned to jello and I
am not sure why. In the last 2 months I have run 19-21 miles 4 times and my quad
have never complained. Maybe the load of work shifts to my quads when I run
above 9 min pace. Also my calf’s had been slowly getting worse making for a
painful last few miles. Also at this point there were a lot of people walking
that I had to navigate around but I kept my cool and held a consistent pace all
the way to the finish. I finished in 3:55:13 a PR of about 30 minutes! Until I
looked at the data this morning I had assumed that I slowed down much more when
in reality my 2nd half was only 11 min slower than my first half. Also this was
the first marathon that I completed without walking.

Post
RaceMy calf and Achilles feel great but my quads still feel like I
hiked up a mountain yesterday. I am itching to go run already but I am going to
stick my 1 week off plan. It’s a good thing that its ugly outside or I would
have gone for a run today. I am looking forward to start training for the next
marathon with what I have learned. Most importantly I need to cross train more
to address that quad weakness and say injury free.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

I ran this course a few
weeks ago so I knew how hard it was going to be, its 2 miles down hill and 1.1
back up with almost no flat spots. My friend and I deiced before the race that
no matter what happens in the first 2 miles you are going to crawl the last 1.1,
so we might as well take advantage of the downhill.

Mile 1 -
6:16, Avg HR 165, net loss 205’. As we start off the race I was in pain,
last night I stood in a trash can full of ice but my Achilles were still sore
today. The race started with a hill climb but even with that the first mile
still was mostly downhill. I didn’t warm up enough and I about pulled my
hamstring running down the first steep hill. I eased back but then it felt like
I was braking with every step.

Mile 2 – 12:19 (6:03 mile split)
Avg HR 171, net loss 245’. Now that I was properly warmed up I was able to
extend my stride without my hamstring feeling like it was going to give. This
mile was entirely downhill and very fast. The slamming on the concrete didn’t
feel good on my Achilles and my quads were also taking a beating. I was actually
looking forward to the end of the downhill.

Mile 3 – 21:49 (9:29
mile split) Avg HR 185, net gain 345’. Yes you read that right a 9:29 mile and
wasn’t out of matches, actually I was passing people. Almost immediately after
the 2 mile mark the race turns and climbs back to the starting area. I was
surprised at how many people ran 6 min pace and were now walking. This mile hurt
like hell is was a man killer.

Finish 3.1 miles – 23:13 (14:00
pace for the last 0.1), Avg HR 189 (Max HR 193), net gain 105’. Believe it or
not I was still passing people while running 14 min pace. That’s because this
entire 0.1 mile section was spent climbing the stairs to the top of the Red
Rocks Amphitheater. My quads were on fire by the time I crossed the finish.

Overall I finished 25th out of 2,000 people. The course was absolutely
gorgeous and I am sure this is one that I want to run again next year. Hopefully
next year I will be able to take it easy the day before.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Today was my
first race of this weekend, I was already signed up for a race on Sunday but I
couldn’t pass this one up. It was small race put on by our kid’s schools,
probably about 50 people in the race. Since my half marathon last weekend I
haven’t run a single mile under 9:00 pace so I wasn’t sure if my speed would be
ready to go sub 7:00’s today. I didn’t know till the end but the race was only
2.8 mile not an actual 5K.

1 Mile – 6:15, Avg HR 170. We went out
really hard running the first 0.5 just under 3:00. After that blazing fast start
there were only 3 of us in the lead group. I was in front setting the pace while
the other two followed. I felt really good, I was actually surprised how quickly
I had recovered from last week.

2 Miles – 12:34 (6:19 mile), Avg
HR 184. After the excitement of the first mile our group’s pace dropped. About
half way into this mile one guy made his move and I followed while the other
runner was dropped and never returned. This guy put about 50 ft on me and I
thought he was going to run away from me too. I figure I at least give it a try
and I dug in and caught up to him but I was really in the red zone then and he
easily pulled away immediately.

2.8 Miles – 17:21 (5:59 pace),
Avg HR 191 (Max HR 198!). Going into the last mile this guy picked up the pace
but I still caught him but he pulled away again. We play this cat and mouse game
most of this mile. The race finished with 1 lap on the track. MY TRACK! I should
have mentioned earlier that this race finish at my old high school where I have
run lots of races. I wasn’t going to let this guy beat me on my home turf. As
soon as we hit the track I made my move, again I chased him down but this time I
didn’t let up and I went around him. He chase me for about 100 m before he broke
(we put on a good show for small fundraiser) I didn’t slow down at all and
sprinted into the finish in 1st place.

Overall I ran the 2.8 mile course
at a 6:16 pace. That would have been an awesome 5K time but I am still really
happy to win the race even if it was a small race. 2nd pace finished about 0:10
behind and 3rd place finished about 1:00 back. Also I got to beat my kid’s
principle and a bunch on other kid’s parents that I know pretty well. My odd
track coach was also there and got to see me win (he is the mayor now). I don’t
think I ever won a race before.

Now it’s time to really test my ability
to recover and see if I can run hard again in tomorrow’s 5K.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

The Course:This race starts and finishes only a few miles
away from where I live but home field advantage hasn’t been the case. 2 yrs ago
I ran my first marathon on this course, I hit the wall hard at 18 and walk 50%
of the last 8 miles to finish in 5:19. I was happy I finished my first marathon
but not happy with my time so I marked the calendar for my redemption the next
year. Last year I had even a worse marathon on this course and got my first DNF
ever, so again I marked my calendar again for redemption the next year. But this
time was different I made a vow to myself to lose some weight and get healthy
and few days later I joined loseit. This year a marathon didn’t fit into the
plan (because of business travel) but I figured a successful half marathon would
be just as good. Emotionally I had a lot riding on this race, I owe all my
weight loss to my failures on this course.

Training:A few
weeks ago I had a failed track workout and I realized that I was just completely
burned out, since then I have stopped all my regular speed workouts. I did have
a few hard runs, a 10K at 90% effort 2 weekends ago and a 20 mile progression
run last weekend but other than that I have just been maintain my mileage the
last few weeks. And it worked, going into this race I was feeling so good that I
almost switched to the marathon at the Expo, instead I registered for next
year’s Denver RnR Marathon.

Read Set Go:The logistics of the
race are a nightmare 15,000 runner in either in the half or the full marathon
plus spectators. After checking my bag I only had time for a 0.25 warm up before
it was time to line up. Conditions were perfect the rain from the day before had
cleared it was a nice 40F on the starting line. Mile 1 – 7:05 I was
in the first wave to start but it was still wall to wall people, I didn’t have a
choice on speed here. Mile 2 – 6:52 Once the traffic cleared up I
picked up the pace. This mile was a scenic stretch threw the heart of downtown
Denver. Mile 3 – 7:09 I realized that have run the last mile too fast
for my comfort, so I slowed the pace on purpose here. Mile 4 – 7:09
Near the end of this mile there is a big hill, not really long (2 city blocks)
but steep. Mile 5 – 7:10 I spent the majority of this mile trying to
get back into a comfortable pace, I was still in the red zone from that hill and
my breathing was out of control. Mile 6 – 6:48 The race entered City
park while the sun was rising over the building in the distance (beautiful) and
for the first time I felt like I hit my stride. I was running comfortable and
fast. Mile 7 – 7:00 Stopped for a bit to eat a cliff shot and drink
some water. Mile 8 – 6:52 Slightly downhill for part of this mile
Mile 9 – 7:01 Now leaving City Park and back to the streets of
Denver. This part was an out and back section I remember last year being on the
other side watching the fast runners go by and thinking next year I want to be
up there with those guys. Mile 10 – 6:53 I know that the next mile
has 2 big hills so I take advantage here of the flat. At this point I am 99%
confident that I can hold this effort all the way to the finish. Mile 11
– 7:08 This is the mile I was a bit worried about with its two big hills, I
gave both of these hill all I had. I was flying past people going up both of
these hills it felt great. I knew that once over the top of the second hill was
going to be a nice 2.5 miles downhill to the finish (home course advantage).
Mile 12 – 6:36 Once on the downhill it didn’t take long to recover
from the up hill effort. There were some flat spots but I held my downhill pace
through them. Like the uphill section I was passing people left and right, my
confidence was sky high. Mile 13 – 6:16 Another mile of mostly
downhill running, the start and finish was at the same place so the earlier
miles must have had a lot more up than down. I felt so good (runners high) that
I just kept picking up the pace. I passed so many people in this last mile.
Last 0.1 – 0:32 (5:20 pace) I sprinted in the last 0.1 which was also
downhill. They had barriers along the road holding the huge crowd back. The
volume from this finish line crowd was just awesome. The last 2 years this
course had made me feel like a loser but not today, I starting a new home course
tradition. Overall I was 148th out of 8,900.

A 20+ min PR but not my
first:Here is my Half marathon progression (These are all the Half’s I
have ever run) Jun 2009 – 2:15 (220 lbs) This was my first half ever and I
was pretty happy with my time (had 2200’ of downhill, 0’ up) Sep 2010 – 1:53
(209 lbs) I can’t tell you how happy I was to run under 2hrs, I didn’t even care
about the 22 min PR. Oct 2010 – 2:25 (209 lbs) This was last year’s Denver
Marathon, they counted me as a half marathon finisher. Oct 2011 – 1:30 (180
lbs) coming into this race my goal was 1:35 but I felt really good and finished
with a 23 min PR.

At the 5K mark, still crowded and the sun isn’t quite up.

Here I am crossing the finish line, this is first finish line picture
where I am not looking at my watch.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Earlier in the week on Wednesday I had a failed speed workout and I knew
right from then that I wouldn’t be racing this one but using it as a workout. On
race day I decided on something in between race and workout, pacing my friend on
his time goal. On Saturday my daughter’s friend had a birthday party at Jump
Street and being the active parent I am I jumped with the kids for a couple of
hours, which I still felt on race day.

Mile 1 – 6:44 (Avg HR 165). My
legs felt like crud right from the start. This first mile felt way harder than
it should have.

Mile 2 – 13:24 (6:40 mile split, Avg HR 177). As the
excitement of the start wore off this mile felt like work, not fun. My quad felt
like they were going to rip off of my hips and my friend that I was pacing was
now pulling away from me.

Mile 3 – 20:07 (6:43 mile split, Avg HR 178 ).
At the start of mile 3 we ran through the Pepsi Center and along the arena were
the Avalanche and Nuggets play.

Mile 4 – 26:55 (6:48 mile split, Avg HR
178 ). I started to hit my stride and the pace just felt easier (quads feeling
better). I caught up to my friend and took the lead as pacer again. Also on this
mile we ran through Coors field (Rockies Stadium) and a short section along the
dirt from home base to 3rd base and then out the back of the outfield.

Mile 5 – 33:56 (7:01 mile split, Avg HR 181). Back on the streets of
down town Denver the tall building made nice shade. My friend and I were running
with a small group and all of us really hit started to run out of gas and the
pace slowed.

Mile 6 – 40:58 (7:02 mile split, Avg HR 184). Huge traffic
jams as the 5K race merged back onto the same course. My friend says he is done
and not to wait for him and go for it. I held the same pace be he and the group
we were running with dropped way back.

6.2 Miles – 42:15 (6:25 pace, Avg
HR 190). I picked up the pace a little for the final stretch but I still held
back because my quads were burning up (and this was a flat course). The race
finished on the sidelines of the 50 yard line of mile high stadium (Broncos). I
felt like a star running out of the same tunnel onto the field.

I really
did have a lot of fun and this was one of the coolest races I have ever run. But
it was hard holding my pace through the halls and 90 degree turns inside the
stadiums. I finished 35th out of all the men and 5th in my age group. My friend
only fell behind by 0:20 in the last mile and finished with a PR by over 2:00
(he was pretty happy).

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Over the weekend I ran with 9 others from my work in a
relay race. The race started in Breckenridge and finished near Aspen. Our team
finished the 195 miles in 32:10:34. I had a lot of laughs and a lot of great
stories to tell, I won’t bore you with all of those non running stories. Here is
a description of each on my runs. (kind of long but you should at least read
about the last run)

Leg 10 – Frisco to Copper mountain Friday
5:35pm, 6.5 mi @ 8:22 Pace, Avg HR 177, Elevation Gain 690’ I left my house
at 5:30 am and basically sat in the car for 12 hrs straight. I ran a 1 mile
warm-up to try and loosen up my muscles but my quads felt terrible. I start off
at a sub 8:00/mi pace which was fine for the first mile. Miles 2, 3, 4 @ 5 were
all up hill, about 2%-3% grade. It was also hot and during these miles my heart
rate averaged in the 180’s! The last 1.5 mi flattened out and I was able to
resume a pace near 8:00/mi to the end.

Leg 18 – Eagle to Gypsum
Saturday 2:40 am, 6.5 mi @ 7:36 Pace , Avg HR 160, Downhill Course I was
unable to sleep between this run and the last one. My quads felt bad before the
last run and then I ran a hard uphill, my quads were now really hurting before
this run. This leg was mostly downhill and I planned on taking it easy and
saving some energy for the last run which was going to be my hardest. Right off
the bat I started with a pace in the 7:30’s. I ran very even splits within 10
seconds faster or slower than the average. This run had my lowest average heart
rate so I guess I did take it easy.

Leg 30 – Snowmass Golf Course to
Snowmass Ski Area (trail run) Saturday 2:40 pm, 8.4 mi @ 10:58 Pace, Avg HR
163, Elevation Gain 1,540’ Since my last run I was able to nap about 30 min
and my quads were really sore. I started on the golf course but in less than 5
minutes I was on the side of the mountain. I ran most of the first mile but then
I had to walk some and run some the next 2 miles to the peak of the climb. The
view at the top was amazing and the tail descended along some cliffs. There were
times when I was only a few feet away from a really steep cliff it was really
neat. But the fun was short live as I soon start ascending the second peak of
the run. I really had a tough time on this climb, one mile was over 14:00. I
came over the peak and again ran along some cool cliffs. Then I started my final
decent to the finish line. At the very top I could see way at the bottom the
finish (1.5 miles to run and 600’ decent). Also at the bottom I could see and
hear my team cheering me on and making a ton of noise with some cow bells. I
can’t describe what happened but it felt like I grew wings. I sprinted down the
side of that mountain like a madman. It seemed like every switch back I could
hear them get louder. I was going so fast that I almost didn’t make on a few
turns. I ran that last mile in 7:29 on some pretty sketchy terrain. I met up
with my team and we all ran the last 0.1 into the finish line together.

This will go down as one of my best running experiences ever
especially that epic trail run. In the future I am going to imagine my teammates
cheering me in whenever I need a boost.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Unless it’s already on the bib I will write the race name, date, time & distance. Then I hang it on my wall at work, eventually when I run out of room I will take the older ones down and store them somewhere.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

My goal for today’s race was to run 41:59 so 6:46 pace. The race is at 7,500’
elevation but almost all downhill it was a really fast course. The biggest
downhill was in the first mile and most everyone went out too fast. I ran the
first mile a little faster than I wanted and I spent most of the second mile
recovering. In the early miles I had already tossed my goal and traded it in for
a faster pace. I came through the first 5K at 20:40 which felt great and way
under my goal. But things were just getting started and I was going to pick up
the pace. I had been running alone for a while with the same pack of runners
about 100 meters down the road. I decided it was time to chase them down which
took about a mile to cover the distance. I caught them near the 5 mile mark and
went straight though the pack. It felt really good zipping past this pack of
10-15 runners. I really turned on the gas in the last mile, it hurt a lot but at
this time I was running on a runner’s high. At the 6 mile marker I could see the
finish line and I nearly went into a full sprint from there. My Garmin says I
ran the last .2 @ 5:22 pace. I passed another few people in the sprint into the
finish line. I ran my second 5K in 20:04 almost as fast as my best 5K this year.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

This adventure through the streets of Denver was part scavenger hunt part
running race. Each team had 2 runners plus an optional pit crew to help solve
clues. There weren’t any teams without a pit crew in the top 3, I am glad we had
are ours.

All together there was 12 items. 3 – Challenges. Cryptic
clue would lead you to a location where you had to complete a task. 5 -
Pictures of statues. Cryptic clue would lead you to a unique statue that you
needed to take a picture of 3 - Find one of these and take a picture next to
it. Find an Elevator, Cigar smoking Indian & a Mannequin with a head. 1
- Crayon rubbing. The clue sent us to get a crayon rubbing of the seal that’s on
the 13th step of the capital

The race started at noon and it was 80+
degrees out and I was sweating buckets the whole time. While getting lost or not
running the direct route we ran 9.25 miles in about 1:52, we finished 2nd place
overall. The best route we could have taken to find everything would have only
been 5.9 miles.

Here are a few of the better pictures and some
comments (not the actual clues):

My teammate and I prior to the race, I
passed on the pre race beer

Take a picture inside this sculpture

Take a picture with a mannequin that has a head (Terrible picture of me
by the way)

Find the dancing ballerinas sculpture and imitate their pose for the
picture

Find the fat lady and take a picture with her, she was at the opera
house

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Start and the first big accent
(miles 0-10)It was a really beautiful course but I think scenic = tough
at least in Colorado. Around mile 2 we started a steady climb all the way to
mile 6. Once at the top my muscles felt dead already. Also at the top of this
climb I ate my first gel and it made my stomach queasy. Then it was long decent
back to Estes Park. The downhill felt almost as bad as the uphill, I am not sure
why downhills tear my quads apart. I ate half an orange at mile 9 which made my
stomach feel even worse.

Around the lake (miles 11-16)We got
back into town where it’s actually flat and I ate my 2nd gel at mile 11. I
almost puked, I didn’t although I wish I had. My legs were in terrible shape, my
stomach hurt and I was getting hot. I came really close to giving up here, my
car wasn’t far and I could have easily hopped in and drove away. I have given up
on a marathon once before and that was way worse than any pain I was feeling.
During this time I kept drinking liquids but I had given up on solid food.

Second loop out of town (miles 17-22)The second loop started
with 2.5 miles of steady climbing. The nice thing was as soon as we climbed a
bit there was a light breeze and I felt cool again. My altitude had changed to
“I will finish” and I was cooling down so things were looking good. The climb
peaked at mile 20, here I looked at my total time for first time in the race. I
wasn’t happy with my current pace and I was thinking the 5hr goal was gone.
Running down the other side of this loop I picked up the pace a bit but my
stomach seemed to be the limiting factor. I still hadn’t eaten anything since
mile 11.

Back into town and the finish (miles 23-26.2)At
mile 23 I decide to eat a banana at a water station. This time it went down fine
and a mile later I starting to feel a lot better. I looked at my watch for the
second time in the race and saw that I there was still hope for finishing under
5hrs. I ran nonstop the last 2.2 miles at a 9:23 pace and a bpm 170-185.

Results and the big pictureI finished in 4:52:23 just under
my medium goal of 5hrs. Which is not a great time, I am pretty sure that I could
run it a lot faster if I was fresh. I showed up to this race pretty beat up and
mentally exhausted having run 2 marathons in the previous 9 weeks. The real goal
behind this was to join the marathon maniacs club. The entry requirement is 3
marathons in 90 days. Now that I have met this goal it’s time to take a break
from marathoning and see some shorter distances.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Pre Race:
At the
starting line it was 37F and had just stopped raining. I wore my regular running
shorts, tech-t, running hat, cotton hoddie and cotton socks. I received lots of
great advice on clothing but in the end I couldn’t violate the most important
rule in marathoning “don’t change anything on race day”. But I am going to buy
some rain gear, so next time I will be prepared for anything.

Miles 0
- 6 “Relax we got a few miles ahead of us” (6mi @ 10:06 pace)
The first
6 miles were mostly dry with some light drizzle here and there. I started off
slow and was boxed in by all the runners. I wasn’t about to go crazy like other
people I saw weaving in and out of the traffic. Hey, we got 25 more miles I
think you can make up for 1 mile of slow running. I was getting really warm
debating on when I should toss the sweatshirt on the side of the road. Running
in Denver is weird became its hilly but not big hills just short quick ones.
Going up and down these little hills my quads didn’t feel right. Actually they
didn’t feel right the last couple of days but I wrote it off as pre race
jitters. My quads always get messed up as I cut back on the mileage. When I used
to do the traditional taper (20 days) my quads would be useless at the start of
the race. This year I have done a short taper (13 days) and that has helped a
lot but not fixed the problem.

Miles 7 - 19 “Wet soggy and
flirting with a DNF” (13 @ 9:53 pace)
By now the drizzle had become light
rain but I was still feeling a little too warm. I ditched my sweat shirt at the
Broncos stadium (9.5 miles). I didn’t realize at the moment but this was a huge
mistake. At first running without the sweat shirt felt refreshing and my pace
increased for the next few miles. I ran down a big hill around 14 and my quads
felt terrible. Miles 15, 16 & 17 people keep saying just a little farther
and then some downhill. I was like “please no more downhill”. Also during these
miles my condition was deteriorating, I was getting really really cold. I
remember at mile 18 I checked to see if my phone was still transmitting to run
keeper and switching on the external battery, this was really hard because my
fingers just didn’t want to move. At mile 19 I couldn’t open power gel with my
hands, I had to use my teeth. I was seriously afraid that I going to have to
duck out of the race just to warm up.

Miles 20 - 22 “Warming
up, feels like I might be able to kick it in” (3 @ 10:11 pace)
I couldn’t
remember if the course went back by the stadium. I figured that either way I was
going to have to go find my sweatshirt. Luckily at mile 20 the course came
pretty close and I only had to go off course (in the wrong direction) a few
hundred feet to retrieve my sweatshirt. Around mile 20 it also stopped raining
and was clear to the finish. I warmed up pretty quickly and my mood and pace
improved. I finished mile 22 in 9:46, it had been 5 miles since my last one
under 10:00. It felt like I had gotten my second wind and could finish the last
few miles at a good pace. I was thinking that I could still get my medium goal
of 4:22:00. But these feelings were short lived.

Miles 23 -
Finish “The train has come of the tracks” (4.2 @ 11:31 pace)
After a 1
min walk break I was ready to start mile 23 with that same awesome feelings. But
the first few steps into the run and my calf muscles nearly cramped up. I hate
that feeling your muscles send out the second before they lock. Anyways I had
some painful cramps last year and I wasn’t about to get one now. I changed my
strategy to “forget about time, let’s just finish”. I think that when my quads
are gone I must have changed my running form to one that is easier on them but
really hard on my calf muscles. Nearly every step of the last 3 miles felt like
it could have been the last before a huge cramp. The course went back through
downtown Denver but this time I walked up every little hill. I ditched the
sweatshirt again at mile 24(I was plenty warm for the last 2 miles). Even in
this shape I was still passing a lot of people that must have been feeling
worse. I was so happy to see the mile 25 marker, I wanted to sprint home but my
legs would only allow 12 min pace. Crossing the finish line was a really good
feeling and made it worth all the pain.

Post Race:
My
official time was 4:28:03 my medium goal was 10 min pace (4:22:00). When I came
through mile 22 at 3:39:39, I was 21 seconds under 10 min pace but after that I
lost big chunks of time. This marathon was about 2 and half minutes slower than
my last marathon. But I am really happy to have another marathon finished under
4:30:00.

I didn’t have any chaffing problems and only had got a 1
blister on one foot. The only thing sore today is my quads, everything else
seems good. I am walking around normal today even on the stairs which is a day
after first for me. I can remember the day after my first marathon every muscle
seemed sore and my feet, ankles and knees were in bad shape too.

As
every marathon I learned a lot and now I will adjust my training. 1 major
problem I want to address is my quads, they didn’t feel right from the start.
After 18 miles and a few small hills they were toast. In training I never have
problems with my quads. I have successfully run many 18 & 20 mile runs
without any quad problems and that’s usually just days after a tempo run. I am
thinking that maybe over tapering is the issue not duration of the taper.

Here I am finishing, I am the one it the white shirt.

It’s amazing how quick your mood changes once you cross the finish
line.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

- 19:56! My wife’s boss signed me up to run
with him only a few days before the race. I told him ok but I couldn’t cancel my
long run because this was my last weekend to train for my May 15th marathon. My
goal was to go out at about 7 min pace and then see how I felt after a mile. But
I wasn’t feeling to good about this race, I wasn’t sure how my body would feel
the day after 17 and I was still feeling sick.

I ran the first mile in
6:47 (163 AHR) near where I said I would. I really felt great the scratchy
throat was gone my legs didn’t feel like they should have from yesterdays run.
So I said to my self “lets go”. I ran the 2nd mile in 6:15 (176 AHR). Everything
still felt great and I was passing people like crazy which was a great
confidence boost. I kept speeding up the entire race and the 3 mile I was really
pushing my HR to the max. I ran the 3rd mile in 6:08 (AHR 183) but again I was
still on top of the world, can you say runners high. My watch said I ran the
last 0.16 (I guess I went over by 0.06) at a pace of 5:08 (AHR 190).

I
was a great weekend of running but now I am paying for it (ran 17 on saturday the day before the race). I really feel like
crap, my throat is worse then it was yesterday so I am going to go take a nap
now.

Last 5 miles in 36:27 (7:17 pace). I am really floored with these results, this is a faster pace than my best 10K. I think that there must have been some other factors at work here. I expected to run faster with the walk times cut in half but not by this much. Maybe last week I was tired, less focused or something. I noticed that the transitions seemed a lot smoother than last week. Don’t let anyone tell you that run/walking is only for slower runners.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Sunday: 6 mile trail run. Its 3 miles and 1520’ elevation gain to the top, I only time the accent portion because I like to compare it to accents. I ran the uphill in 38:12 (12:44 pace), average heart rate 175 with a peak of 189 bpm. 38 min may not sound very good but one of my goals for this year was to reach top in less than 40 min so I can take that off my list. Also I beat last year’s best time by over 5 minutes and 2009’s best time by about 16 minutes. And now some pictures from this run.

Here is another shot at the top, behind that shelter is a great view of down town Denver but not today.

This is about half way down the mountain the sun is thinking of coming out. If you look way down the valley you can see the highway. Also on the other side of the valley is the famous red rocks Amphitheatre.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Its 3 miles and 1520’ elevation gain to the top, I only time
the accent portion because I like to compare it to accents. I ran the uphill
in 38:12 (12:44 pace), average heart rate 175 with a peak of 189 bpm. 38 min may
not sound very good but one of my goals for this year was to reach top in less
than 40 min so I can take that off my list. Also I beat last year’s best time by
over 5 minutes and 2009’s best time by about 16 minutes. And now some pictures
from this run.

Here is another shot at the top, behind that shelter is a great view
of down town Denver but not today.

This is about half way down the mountain the sun is thinking of coming
out. If you look way down the valley you can see the highway. Also on the other
side of the valley is the famous red rocks Amphitheatre.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

I am not ready to resume track workouts but I want to have some kind of hard work out during the week. Then I remembered that I was going to do some speed experimentation on the run/walk strategy.

Parameters of the run: 1. Clock never stops out on the course (actually I never stop my watch during a run). 2. Walk 1min after every mile 3. First 5 miles will be a warm up at a comfortable pace. Last 5 will be the experiment phase, I want to test this out on not so fresh legs.

Here is how it went Miles 0 - 5, 51:04 (10:13 pace), Average HR 131 Miles 6 – 10, 41:52 (8:22 pace), Average HR 161, Max HR 181, last mile in 8:11 Total time – 1:32:56 (9:18 pace), Average HR 144

I created some tables to show how much a walk affects overall pace at different speeds. If my mile time with walk breaks is 8:20 then my running pace has to be 31 seconds faster. This means that I was averaging 7:40-7:50 pace during the running portions of the last 5 miles.

Psychologically this feels pretty easy, I am only thinking about how far I have till the next walk section not how many miles till I get home. The down side is that first few steps into and out of the walk zones are a little tougher on the body, especially slowing to a walk. The run/walk method seems a lot less efficient at this speed. Looking back it might have been easier to run the last 5 miles at this pace without stopping. Next Wednesday I am going to do this run again but with 30 sec walks.

If anyone wants to see these run/walk pace tables let me know and I send you a copy.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Ready set go. Miles 0
- 6, 10:08 pace, 137 Avg HR.
At the start of the race it was a little
warm with a light breeze. I felt great I had actually slept decent the night
before. For these early miles I was just trying to keep my cool and not get
caught up in all the excitement. My discipline paid off and I stuck to my
schedule walking 1 min every mile. It’s hard to walk 1 mile into a marathon with
everyone running past.

Into the wind. Miles 6 – 13.1, 10:09 pace, 147
Avg HR.
This was and an out and back course and when we came out of the
park it was almost a straight shot to the turnaround. This entire section was
run into a constant head wind. You can tell from my heart rate that I was
working much harder to hold the same pace. Also this section was not flat like I
thought it would be (there are hills in Kansas). One of the downsides to the
run/walk strategy is that you have to run your own race. I couldn’t draft off
someone going 10:00 min pace or my mile time would be up around 11 min. But
other people certainly didn’t have any trouble speeding up to drafting off me. I
didn’t let this get to me I just kept on going my only though was about getting
to the turnaround. My knee problems were short lived they started and ended some
time in this section.

Wind at my back, who turned off the AC? Miles
13.1 – 20, 9:59 pace, 159 Avg HR.
I assumed that once I turned around I
would just fly with the tail wind. What I didn’t realize was that the
temperature had climbed up into the 70’s and the wind was keeping me cool. My
pace did increase but so did my heart rate. For a comparison 2 weeks ago I ran
20 miles in 3:07 at 138 Avg HR today I had to work much harder for 20 miles
coming in at 3:21 with an Avg HR of 150. I hadn’t planned for the heat, hills or
wind but I didn’t let it get to me I was focused on getting the job done.

Getting hot and tired. Miles 20 – 23, 9:49 pace, 176 Avg HR.
My mini goal for today was to arrive at 20 miles in good shape and in a
decent time. I have heard from a lot of people that a marathon is can be split
into two halves a 20 mile warm up followed by a 10K. I agree, the real test
begins at 20 miles. We turned off the long straight out and back road and
returned to the park. Now there is no wind at all and I am really starting to
heat up (in case you wondering heat is my kryptonite). But my pace is steady and
maybe starting to increase a little. I should also say that I am passing people
in droves. This walking strategy is really paying off.

Dark times.
Miles 23 – 25, 10:43 pace, 180 Avg HR.
Near the end of the journey
through the park I start taking a turn for the worse. I feel terrible and like
I’m dangerously close to the dreaded wall. My mind was clouded with thoughts of
doubt and my legs felt like lead. My pulse has spiked, I actually saw it in the
low 190’s. But I kept my cool (mentally not physically) I changed up my strategy
and walked 1 min at the start and another at the half for both of these miles.
Interesting thing was that I was still passing people during this time. Coming
out of park we turned towards town and went over the last hill.

Finish! Miles 25 – 26.2, 9:43 pace, 184 Avg HR.
After coming
over that hill I could see the town, more importantly I could see the steeple of
a particular church. This was the church where the race started and finished. It
was that exact moment I knew I was going to finish. My mood did a 180 and I felt
refreshed and excited I was almost there. I resumed my normal pace and strategy
and I finished strong. I passed so many people in that last mile it was nuts. I
was so proud of myself and so happy it was just a great moment at that finish
line.

Post Finish Analysis/Random Thoughts
The run walk
strategy was great and I got to mile 20 in pretty good shape. After about 5
miles almost no one was passing me and I was doing all the chasing. The wind and
heat really gook a lot out of me, I wonder how fast I would have run in better
conditions. Looking over my heart rate stats after the race was a real eye
opener. I was only running 10 min miles but the effort I was putting in was
huge, my heart rate was over 180 the last 4 miles. I bet on fresh legs a 180
heart rate would get me 6:30 pace for 4 miles. Anyways I finished 4th out of 12
in my age group and beat my previous time by over 37 mins. I’m 30 lbs lighter
than my last marathon but I think a bigger factor was is that mind was much
stronger and more confident than previous marathons.

Friday, March 4, 2011

For the 3rd week in a row I am running the same 10 miles with the last 5 hard. Strategy for the last 5 miles Week 1 – 1:00 walk / mile Week 2 – 0:30 walk / mile Week 3 – no walking Looking back on all of this the “no walk” should have been week 1.

Another goal for this run was to match last week’s times then we could analyze the differences in HR. This is really hard to do for a few reasons 1. My memory at 5:30 AM ain’t to sharp. The best I could remember is 740 730 710 710 700 2. Stoplights, I may have caught it last time but this time I had to wait. 3. I couldn’t match the first 5 from last week because I think I was still asleep until mile 3. Here’s the data

I don’t know how I managed to come within 0:03 of last week’s total 5 mile time. If I wouldn’t have gone berserk the last mile I would have been spot on.

Straight through running without walk breaks was more efficient. Not only that but this was mentally easier than last week’s run. Last week’s run felt like an interval workout (it kind of was). So it looks like if I want to run a faster I’ll have to stop walking.

GPS Data technical talk If last week’s splits look a little different it’s because they are. I had to use some math to try and predict the splits since the watch only came back with 9.91 miles. This time the route was 9.95 but I still needed to fix the splits otherwise that last mile is way off. The math I used last week was faulty, so I fix it and created a spreadsheet that better estimates where the splits are when my Garmin comes up short (or long). The change is +/- 0:00 - 0:03 per mile and then the last mile split may have big changes.

So here’s what happened. I started off not feeling very good my calf was hurting right off the bat. But I didn’t think much of this because the first miles are never good. A few more miles go by and my calf is getting worse. Miles 10-15 felt like I had found my rhythm and I was thinking that I was in the clear. But after my last pit stop (mile 15) my calf came back with a vengeance. It was just dead weight from then on. This threw off my gait and before I knew it my hamstring, knee and ankle were all in pain. But I couldn’t stop now I only had a few miles to get back to the car. I really struggled those last 3 miles to maintain an 11 min pace.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

I was telling a friend last week that I hadn’t run a 5K in
almost a year. My last 5K I was 208 lbs and I finished in 22:30. I started
thinking to myself “maybe I should run that same race again this year”. So on
Saturday I decided to run the Polar bear 5K here in Denver on Sunday. It was a
nice morning, sunny and in the high 20’s, perfect 5K weather. I had forgotten
how much a 5K can hurt and I made it hurt. Right from the start I ran my guts
out finishing the first mile in 6:26. I slowed down a bit for the second mile
6:39, but then had a strong finish with my last mile at 6:21. My goal for the
race was to finish in less than 20 min. I barely missed the mark at 20:05! but I
am really happy with my time. Out of everyone I finished 8th overall and I
received an age group award for finishing 2nd in the 20-29 division. So exactly
one year later I’ve lost 19lbs and taken 2 ½ min off my 5K time.

An
observation: After the race I talked with a lot of runners who finished in front
of me and I as watched the next 10 or 20 people finish after me I noticed
something. I outweigh everyone in the top 25 by at least 30lbs lighter than me, most of these
guys look like they are between 130-150.